


Undercover with a Robot

by tessathetesla



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Confusion, Empath, F/M, Feelings, Kissing, One Shot, Philinda - Freeform, Robot/Human Relationships, Short One Shot, Undercover, season 7, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tessathetesla/pseuds/tessathetesla
Summary: Phil and Melinda have a serious conversation while they are getting dressed for their undercover mission at the Lighthouse.Melinda is surprised at how much Chronicom/LMD Phil looks like the real Phil, and she has mixed feelings about going on a mission with him.Phil tries to explain what it's like having this new body.
Relationships: Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Undercover with a Robot

It was the 1970s, and the SHIELD team had to scramble to stop Project Insight from launching. The team sent Melinda May and Chronicom/LMD Phil Coulson into the Lighthouse, in order to infiltrate and flood the base.

Melinda had been a little uneasy about going undercover with Couslon. She was still trying to figure out who this man, or rather, robot, was. He looked like Phil Coulson, he talked like Phil Coulson, and even had the same glint in his eye.

She’d mourned him. She mourned him when he first died defending the Avengers. She’d mourned him when he’d died in Tahiti. That had been harder. She’d woken up after falling asleep in his arms. Then, she woke up, and noticed he was cold. His chest had stopped moving. He was gone.

She didn’t know how long she had laid there with him, trying to determine if somehow, by some miracle, he would begin to breathe again. But he did not. She’d called the team, and they came to be with her as soon as they could. They hadn’t left the planet yet to find Fitz. And so, she buried Phil Coulson and left her heart there, on the shifting sands.

Then of course, Sarge had shown up, with the same face as Phil Coulson but not the same heart. She’d put hope in him, that maybe, maybe he would remember enough of her and Daisy to snap out of whatever fear dimension he was from. But instead he stabbed her and killed her. She still couldn’t process what had happened, and her lack of emotions made it impossible to even figure it out.

So when she saw this new version of Phil Coulson standing in a tuxedo, she felt nothing for him. Just blank. It surprised her. She thought she’d feel anger, or sadness, or disbelief. But just, nothing. Of course, she could see the tears in his eyes as she walked away from him. Could robots cry?

She didn’t know. But she started to warm up to him a bit, and while her emotions were still out of wack, at least she had a better understanding of what was going on.

Still, it wasn’t easy to be assigned to a mission with him.

Coulson and May had found a couple of lower ranking cadets and managed to ice them quietly and drag them into a nearby storage room to undress them and change into their outfits.

Melinda had noticed Coulson’s eyes on her as she slipped out of her outfit, then he looked away as his eyes caught hers.

“Sorry, Melinda. The data in my head says it’s okay to look at you while you undress, since you know…we…or I mean he, and you, were…together. But…I guess I shouldn’t, I’m sorry.”

Phil’s face turned red, which surprised Melinda. He could get embarrassed, he could cry, he could smile.

“Oh, didn’t even notice, Phil. We don’t have the luxury of time or privacy,” Melinda answered, looking up to see Phil take off his shirt. It was strange to not see the scar. Other than the scar being gone, his bare chest looked as she remembered. Strong, well muscled, he even had the same graying chest hair.

Phil felt self-conscious with May watching him, and realized he would be taking off his pants in front of her shortly. “Um, is this awkward for you?”

Melinda cleared her throat, “Sorry, it’s just. I’m not used to seeing you without a scar. I mean, it’s been so many years. But everything else. It looks like you.”

Phil approached her, his eyes gleaming with a mix of nostalgia and wonder. “I know. It’s gotta be so strange for you. Seeing you here, with me, it fills me with happiness. But is it true happiness? Or just ones and zeroes.”

Melinda allowed him to get closer, close enough that she could feel his breath on her. Apparently he simulated breathing too. She reached out to his chest and gently ran her hands down him. He was warm. While she couldn’t feel any emotions coming off him, he felt so…real.

“I know, it’s weird huh. That’s been the craziest thing about it. I feel more myself than I did before getting my hand cut off, before getting stabbed. I feel real. I feel alive. But…I’m not.” Phil tried not to shudder at Melinda’s touch. It was clear that his body was still allowed to have feelings of pleasure. That surprised him too.

Melinda looked up at him with a confused gaze, “I don’t know what to think, how to feel. I…I miss him. And you seem like him.” Before May could realize what she was doing, she gave him a long and deep kiss. He even kissed like the real Coulson.

The comm sounded, “May, Coulson, you in position yet?” Mack said over the radio.

Melinda and Phil pulled apart, breathing heavy. They quickly finished getting dressed and left the cadets unharmed but unconscious.

Phil couldn’t stop grinning, “It’s just like old times. Me, you, undercover. We were good agents, despite what we became later.”

Melinda agreed. She’d forgotten how much she loved his presence, his constant chatter, the comfortable feeling being around him. Maybe she was beginning to get some of her feelings back. While she couldn’t feel Coulson, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If she was overwhelmed by her feelings, or the feelings of those around her, by touching him, she could get reset.

Before she could think further, they encountered one Roger Stone. Phil tried to talk his way through the situation, and it reminded of the many times this happened before. And it always ended the same with, “Hey I was getting through to him!”

And Melinda answered, “No you weren’t.”

She couldn’t help but smile. It was Phil Coulson. But she was afraid to open up her feelings to him. What if she had to mourn him again? Could she do that? Could he actually die now? She had so many questions, and the urgency of the mission couldn’t be delayed with her confusion.

She’d have to figure it out, at another time. For now, they had a mission to do.


End file.
